UC-NRLF 


B    ^    103    3bE 


RAMON  A'S     HOMELAND 

BY 

MARGARET  V.  ALLEN 
San  Diego,  California 


COPYRIGHTED     1914 
by  Margaret  V.  Allen 


A 


R333 


To  The  Pioneer   Society 
of    San     Diego     County 


327845 


The     Old     San     Diego     M 


RAMONA'S    HOMELAND 


AMONA  was 
published  in  1884, 
thirty  years  ago,  and 
today  is  more  popu- 
lar on  the  Pacific 
Coast  and  over  the 
entire  country  than 
at  any  time  since  it 
issued  from  the  press. 
In  the  generation  since  Helen  Hunt 
Jackson  passed  from  us,  many  literary 
fashions  have  come  and  gone.  The 
popular  novels  of  the  eighties,  dealing 
with  religious  doubts  and  inward 
questionings,  have  grown  old  and  be- 
come difficult  reading.  The  last  dec- 
ade of  the  nineteenth  century,  with  its 
false  sentiment  and  striving  after  effect, 
has  passed  into  history  leaving  little 
that  is  of  permanent  value.  With  the 
earlier  years  of  the  twentieth  century 
has  come  a  strong  reaction  from  the 


esthetic  arid  emotional  to  the  practical 
and  useful  in  literature  as  well  as  in 
life. 

But  through  all  the  varying  fortunes 
of  books  and  authors,  this  little  story 
of  Western  life  among  a  humble 
people  has  gone  through  edition  after 
edition,  and  scarcely  a  year  has  passed 
without  the  publication  of  some  book 
or  magazine  article  intended  to  throw 
light  upon  the  motives  of  the  author 
or  the  incidents  that  she  used  in  build- 
her  story. 

Much  that  is  absolutely  false  and 
misleading  has  been  written  and  told 
of  the  preparation  of  this  powerful 
and  graphic  tale,— the  greatest  novel 
ever  written  by  an  American  woman. 

Houses  are  pointed  out  in  different 
parts  of  California — a  half  dozen  of 
them — as  the  identical  places  where 
Ramona  was  written.  Even  the 
chair  in  which  Mrs.  Jackson  is  said  to 
have  sat  while  writing  the  story  is  on 
exhibition   in   this   city.         And    yet 


Mrs.  Jackson  herself  says  that  every 
word  of  "Ramona"  was  written  in  the 
Berkeley  Apartment  House  in  New 
York  City,  between  December  1st, 
1883  and  March  31st,  1884. 

Although  the  writting  of  "Ramona" 
took  place  on  the  sixth  floor  of  a 
New  York  Apartment  house,  the 
book  belongs  none  the  less  to  Southern 
California,  and  especially  to  San  Diego 
County. 

"Through  Ramona's  Country,"  by 
George  Wharton  James,  is  a  most 
thorough  and  scholarly  study  of  the 
motives  and  purposes  of  the  author. 
It  shows  the  sources  of  the  facts  that 
she  used  so  skillfully  in  the  romance, 
and  gives  the  names  of  the  men  and 
women  whom  she  met  in  her  trips 
into  the  back  country,  many  of  whom 
became  characters  in  the  charming 
story  which  they  helped  her  to  create. 
It  does  not  seem  possible  that  a  work 
of  this  character  could  be  better,  or 
the  spirit  of  the  author  more   firmly 


grasped  than  has  been  done  by  Mr. 
James.  He  is  a  man  after  Mrs. 
Jackson's  own  heart,  and  present  day 
readers  of  Ramona  are  fortunate,  in- 
deed, in  having  such  an  interpreter 
and  guide. 

Among  the  great  number  of  intro- 
ductions to  Ramona,  and  in  the  vast 
amount  of  literature  on  Ramona  land, 
there  is  much  in  common.  All 
writers  that  have  attempted  to  explain 
the  purpose  of  the  author  or  give  the 
sources  from  which  she  collected  her 
material  have  spent  much  of  their  time, 
and  done  most  of  their  research  work 
in  the  vicinity  of  Los  Angeles  and 
Pasadena. 

Many  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  most  sym- 
pathetic and  helpful  friends  lived  in 
Los  Angeles  County.  The  comfort 
and  companionship  that  she  found  in 
the  home  of  Don  Antonio  Coronel 
and  his  charming  wife,  the  comradship 
of  the  most  brilliant  woman  in  South- 
ern California,  Mrs.  Jeanne  C.  Carr, 


and  the  practical  assistance,  in  a  busi* 
nessway,  of  Abbott  Kinney  cannot  be 
over-estimated. 

In  her  study  of  old  Mission  history  j 
and  life,  she  found  Santa  Barbara  and 
San  Gabriel  the  best  preserved  and 
most  typical  of  the  buildings  erected 
by  the  padres;  and  about  each  had 
gathered  a  wealth  of  stories  and  tra- 
ditions that  other  historians  and  novel- 
ists besides  Mrs.  Jackson  have  found 
invaluable. 

But  none  seems  to  have  realized  fully 
the  part  that  San  Diego  had  in  the  life 
of  the  author  and  the  background  that 
it  furnishes  for  the  romance  that  be- 
longs peculiarly  to  this  city  and  county. 

Only  one  that  had  a  part  in  the  old 
San  Diego  of  the  early  eighties',  which 
Mrs.  Jackson  knew  so  well  and  loved 
so  tenderly,  can  appreciate  how  much 
of  its  romance  and  beauty  has  been 
woven  into  the  story.  To  her,  the 
little  town  on  the  bay  was  the  center 
of    Ramona's   country,  and    about  it 


clustered  the  history  and  tradition  that 
she  needed  for  the  novel  that  should, 
in  her  own  words,  "set  forth  some 
Indian  experiences  in  a  way  to  move 
people's  hearts/' 

Mrs.  Jackson  had  visited  Southern 
California  for  a  few  weeks  in  1872, 
and  had  written  with  enthusiasm  of  its 
scenery  and  climate.  Shortly  after- 
ward she  had  moved  to  Colorado, 
which  was  her  home  during  the 
remainder  of  her  life.  She  traveled 
much  in  search  of  health  and  on  visits 
to  old  friends  whom  she  had  known 
during  the  years  spent  with  her 
husband,  a  popular  army  officer,  in 
western  forts.  She  made  several 
journeys  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific  visiting  Indian  reservations  and 
Army  posts  on  the  frontier.  In  the 
course  of  these  visits  she  was  so  pro- 
foundly moved  by  the  injustice  suffered 
by  the  Indians  that  for  the  remainder 
of  her  life  all  literary  interests  and 
ambitions  were   subordinated   to   the 


one  purpose  of  doing  something  to- 
ward righting  the  wrongs  of  these 
helpless  people. 

After  a  winter  of  hard  work  in 
the  Astor  library  she  published,  "The  \ 
Century  of  Dishonor/'  in  1881.  This 
book  was  most  carefully  prepared 
from  government  documents,  military 
records,  and  the  reports  of  Indian 
agents.  It  told  the  story  of  the  deal- 
ings of  the  Government  with  the  na- 
tive tribes  through  its  entire  history. 
She  had  been  guided  at  the  most  im-  ( 
portant  points  by  the  counsel  of  regular 
army  officers  of  wide  Indian  exper- 
ience, and  had  authority  for  every 
statement  that  she  made  and  every 
conclusion  that  she  reached.  Yet  in 
spite  of  all  this  careful  and  painstaking 
investigation  the  book  had  little  influ- 
ence. She  sent  a  copy  to  every 
member  of  Congress  at  her  own  ex-* 
pense,  but  she  saw  her  plain  statements 
discredited  by  mere  civilians  as  unre- 
liable and  hysterical. 


Although  the  publication  of  "The 
Century  of  Dishonor"  failed  to  ao 
complish  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
written,  it  opened  up  opportunities  for 
carrying  on  her  chosen  work  along 
another  line.  The  Century  Magazine, 
the  successor  of  the  old  Scribners, 
was  looking  about  for  subjects  and 
writers  that  should  add  to  the  interest 
of  the  new  literary  venture.  In  the 
far  south  west  was  a  field  that  had 
been  little  exploited.  San  Diego  was 
becoming  known  throughout  the  East 
as  the  terminus  of  a  transcontinental 
road,  The  Atchinson,  Topeka,  and 
Santa  Fe.  A  great  commerical  city 
was  to  grow  up  in  the  south  western 
corner  of  the  republic,  that  should 
rival  San  Francisco  itself.  To  literary 
and  historical  readers,  San  Diego  had 
a  special  interest.  It  was  the  place 
where  history  had  begun  on  the 
Pacific  Coast.  The  first  mission 
founded  by  Father  Junipero  Serra 
*  was  here,  and  two  others  of  the  best 


known  of  the  twenty-one  Missions 
were  in  the  vicinity.  The  surround" 
ing  valleys  had  been  the  early  homes 
of  the  Indians  gathered  into  these  Mis- 
sions, and  after  the  Secularization  Act 
by  which  the  great  bulk  of  the  Church 
property  came  into  the  possession  of 
the  government,  the  converts  had  re- 
turned to  the  homes  of  their  fore- 
fathers. Here  they  put  into  practice 
the  arts  of  civilization  learned  from 
their  devoted  teachers.  They  built 
comfortable  adobe  homes,  set  out  or- 
chards, and  planted  vineyards.  In 
many  of  these  Indian  villages  primitive* 
churches  were  built,  and  the  San 
Diego  priest  made  occasional  visits  to 
these  scattered  converts  to  baptize  their 
children  and  marry  the  youths  and 
maidens  of  the  tribe. 

The  Spanish  ranch  owners,  true  to  , 
their  promise  to  the  Mexican  govern- 
ment, allowed   the  Indians   to   retain 
their  lands  on  the  grants  to  which  they 
themselves  held  title  after  the  American 


occupation.  But  when  these  ranches 
were  sold  or  transferred  to  American 
owners  or,  when  the  government  land 
upon  which  many  of  these  Indian  vil- 
lages were  built  was  taken  up  by  set- 
tiers,  the  rights  of  the  Indians  were 
disregarded  and  white  squatters  came 
in,  and  took  possession  of  the  orchards, 
the  vineyards  and  even  the  homes  of 
the  aborigines. 

Appeals  were  made  to  the  govern- 
ment at  Washington,  but  the  law  was 
on  the  side  of  the  white  settlers.  The 
American  Courts,  before  which  the 
cases,  involving  the  rights  of  the  In- 
dians settled  upon  Spanish  grants  and 
goverment  land,  were  tried  and  adjudi- 
cated, could  not,  under  the  treaty  made 
at  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war,  give 
to  the  Indians  what  was  denied  them 
by  law.  Occasional  articles  had  ap- 
peared in  newspapers  and  perodicals 
regarding  these  victims  of  the  white 
man's  heartless  encroachments.  The 
subject  was  one  that  appealed  strongly 


■■-'■■  tiferi 

Ijrr^-r-^r-r^  _  ^  & 

Lijfflw 

f3$S^j£V 

^^^'|^^;^: 

; 

Ruins       of        Church       built       by 
Indian     Refugees     at     San     Pasqual 


to  a  large  class  of  the  reading  public. 
Mrs.  Jackson  had  shown,  in  "The 
Century  of  Dishonor,"  a  familiarity 
with  Indian  affairs  in  California  as 
well  as  in  other  portions  of  the  coun- 
try;  so  in  1881  she  was  engaged  by 
The  Century  Company  to  write  a 
series  of  articles  on  "Missions  and 
Mission  Indians  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia" for  the  magazine. 

In  the  autumn  of  that  year  she 
came  to  San  Diego,  and  during  the 
winter  and  the  following  spring  she 
visited  many  of  the  tribes  in  the 
county.  She  lived  while  here  at  the 
hospitable  home  of  Mrs.  D.  J 
Whipple, who  for  years  kept  boarders 
in  the  house  still  standing,  little  change 
ed,  on  the  south-east  corner  of  G  and 
Tenth  Streets.  Mrs.  Jackson  occupi- 
ed the  room  on  the  second  floor 
facing  south,  and  made  a  most  delight- 
ful addition  to  the  family. 

Her    room     was     homelike     and 
attractive  from  the  moment   that  she 


Mrs.      Jackson's      Home      while     in 
San     Diego 


took  possession.  She  always  carried 
with  her  a  small  collection  of  rare 
prints,  a  few  baskets,  and  a  rug  or 
two;  when  these  were  arranged  on 
the  walls,  couch  and  table,  she  was 
at  home.  She  was  fond  of  "pretty 
things,"  and  one  evening  showed  to  a 
group  of  the  women  boarders  two 
beautiful  soft  knitted  opera  hoods 
much  worn  at  that  time  in  the  East. 
These  were  greatly  admired  by  the 
ladies,  and  Mrs.  Jackson  offered  to 
send  orders  to  the  knitter,  living  in  an 
eastern  city,  for  as  many  hoods  as 
might  be  desired.  Among  the  guests 
at  the  house  were  several  railway 
officials,  connected  with  the  line  that 
was  nearing  completion,  army  officers 
with  their  families,  professional  men, 
several  eastern  tourists,  and  two  or 
three  teachers  in  the  public  schools. 

Many  of  the  older  generation  of 
San  Diego  people  still  remember  her 
well.  She  was  at  this  time  a  hand- 
some women  of  fiftyone.     She  had 


an  air  that  has  been  described  as 
commanding,  and  her  self-poise  was 
so  perfect  that  she  seemed  to  some 
cold  and  reserved.  Her  likes  and 
dislikes  were  spontaneous,  ardent,  and 
sometimes  unjust.  A  characteristic 
anecdote  is  told  of  her  at  this  time. 
Sitting  at  the  same  table  was  a  bright, 
talkative  little  woman  who  had  re- 
cently come  to  San  Diego  to  teach  in 
one  of  the  public  schools.  She  fre- 
quently commented  upon  the  traits  and 
doings  of  her  pupils  in  uncomplimen- 
tary terms,  calling  the  unfortunate  chil- 
dern  that  were  under  her  charge, 
"imps."  One  day  she  had  made  a 
witty  comment  on  the  mental  defi- 
ciency of  a  pupil,  and  a  laugh  went 
around  the  table.  Mrs.  Jackson  turn- 
ed her  flashing  eyes  upon  the  young 
woman  and  said  in  cold  measured 
tones;  "I  wonder  that  the  Board  al- 
lows you  to  retain  your  position  in  the 
schools  of  this  city." 

Mrs.  Jackson  brought  letters  of  in- 


troduction  to  several  residents  of  San 
Diego;  among  these  were  E.  W. 
Morse  and  Daniel  Cleveland,  from 
whom  she  received  much  assistance 
and  encouragement.  She  was  warm- 
ly recommended  by  church  authorities 
to  Bishop  Mora  and  Father  Ubach, 
the  priest  in  charge  of  the  San  Diego 
parish.  She  found  in  the  latter  a 
warm  friend  and  a  most  enthusiastic 
co-worker  in  her  task  of  ascertaining 
the  "History  and  Present  Condition  of 

3  the  Mission  Indians."  She  frequently 
accompanied  him  or  his  assistant  in 
their  visits  to  the  back  country,  where 
she  heard  from  the  Indians  themselves 
the  story  of  their  misfortunes. 

There  are  no  finer  passages  in  the 
entire  book  than  those  in  which  she 

f  describes  Father  Ubach,  the  soldier 
priest, — the  most  unique  and  interest- 
ing figure  in  all  California  Church 
history  next  to  Father  Junipero  himself. 
Mrs.  Jackson  tells  of  his  devotion  to 
the  hundreds  of  Mission  Indians  whom 


he  visited  in  their  "shifting  refuges/' 
once  or  twice  a  year  to  administer  the 
sacraments  of  the  church;  'for  whom 
he  wrote  bootless  letter  after  letter  to 
the  government  officials  at  Washing- 
ton; and  for  whom  he  made  equally 
bootless  efforts  to  win  some  justice, 
some  protection  from  officials  nearer 
home.  He  had  endeavored  to  stir  the 
church  itself  to  greater  efficiency  in 
their  behalf,  but  now  he  had  become 
disheartened  and  indignant,  with  that 
intense  suppressed  indignation  which 
the  poetic  temperment  alone  can  feel. 
He  had  ceased, — had  said,  'it  is  of 
no  use;  I  will  speak  no  word;  I  am 
done;  I  can  bear  no  more/" 

Is  it  any  wonder  that,  when  Mrs. 
Jackson  came, — with  her  boundless 
enthusiasm,  her  appreciation  for  what 
was  noble  and  fine  in  the  character 
of  the  Indian,  and  her  opportunity  to 
reach  a  wide  and  intelligent  audience 
of  American  men  and  women  through 
a  leading  magazine, — Father  Ubach 


took  courage  and  entered  into  her 
plans  with  a  zeal  and  industry  scarcely 
second  to  that  of  the  author  herself? 
That  she  appreciated  his  assistance  as 
well  as  his  devoted  life  and  character, 
the  pages  in  "Ramona"  given  to  Father 
Gaspara  testify. 

Mrs.  Jackson  gained  much  of  her 
insight  into  the  hospitable  and  patri- 
archal life  of  the  Spanish  and  Mexican 
i  ranches  during  her  frequent  visits  at 
Guajome.  The  mistress  of  the  ranch 
at  this  time  was  Madame  Couts,  the 
daughter  of  Juan  Bandini,  and  the 
wife  of  Lieut.  Cave  Couts.  From 
her,  Mrs.  Jackson  heard  the  history  of 
San  Louis  Rey  Mission,  and  the  story 
of  the  devoted  labors  of  Father  Peyri. 
{The  daily  life  of  the  household,  with 
its  retinue  of  Indian  servants,  its  gener- 
ous welcome  to  travellers,  and  its 
deeply  religious  atmosphere,  impressed 
her  greatly. 

If  the  Morena  ranch  had  any  defi- 
nite existence  outside  the  author's  brain, 


Patio      at        Guajom 


it  must  have  been  at  Guajome.   It  is  two 

2  days  journey  from  San  Diego,  a  few 
miles  from  San  Louis  Rey,  and  less 
than  six  hours  by  a  'fleet  pony'  from 
Temecula.     Its  life  and  activities  fitted 

rwell  the  picture  of  the  surroundings 
of  the  little  group  that  were  to  have 
the  leading  part  in  her  drama.     But 

I  Ramona,  Alessandro,  Senora  Morena 
and  Felipe,  although  composite  types 
from  many  characters  that  the  author 
had  met,  were,  after  all,  pure  fiction, 
the  children  of  Mrs.  Jackson's  own 
brain;  and  so  their  home  life,  while  it 

\  resembled  the  daily  routine  at  Guajome, 
never  had  any  real  existence. 

Mrs.  Jackson  says  that  she  obtained 
the  description  of  the  old  Spanish 
ranch-house  during  a  two  hours  visit 
at  Camulos  Ranch,  situated  near 
Newhall,  half  way  between  Los 
Angeles  and  Santa  Barbara.  But  a 
careful  analysis  of  the  incidents  of  the 
story  connected  with  the  Morena 
ranch  seem  to  prove  conclusively  that 


San     Louis     Rey     Mission 


Mrs.  Jackson  never  intended  to  make 
Camulos  Ranch  the  home  of  Ramona. 
She  simply  used  the  house  and  its 
surroundings  because  it  fitted  her  pur- 
pose  better  than  the  Couts  home, 
which  was  smaller  and  more  modern 
than  the  home  of  the  del  Valle  family. 
The  homes  of  the  Spanish  and  Mexi- 
can families  of  Southern  California, 
were  all  of  the  same  type.  Low 
rooms  arranged  about  a  central  court 
in  which  much  of  the  family  life  was 
carried  on.  The  Estudillo  home  in 
Oldtown,  known  to  tourists  as 
"Ramona's  Marriage  Place/'  which 
is  visited  by  thousands  of  travellers 
each  season,  is  built  on  the  plan  com- 
mon to  all  early  California  homes. 
The  arrangement  of  the  rooms;  the 
gardens  in  the  court  yard,  with  their 
old  fashioned  flowers;  the  large  out 
door  oven;  the  olla,  with  its  cool  water 
on  the  warmest  day,  make  the  scenes 
in  the  story  realistic  to  eastern  visitors 
that  have  read   Ramona  as  a  part  of 


their  preparation  for  a  winter's  trip  to 
Southern  California. 

John  Hinton,  now  living  in  Old 
Town,  was  her  driver  in  many  of  the 
most  interesting  excursions  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity.  She  often  visited  the 
old  Mission,  the  dam, — built  by  the 
fathers,  a  few  miles  above  on  the  San 
Diego  River, — and  the  Arguello  home 
at  La  Punta.  But  most  of  all  she 
loved  the  drive  on  the  Point;  "the 
most  beautiful  drive  in  America/'  a 
famous  traveller  once  said,  with  the 
quiet  waters  of  the  bay  on  one  side, 
and  beyond  the  soft  outlines  of  the 
Mexican  hills,  and  on  the  other  side 
the  blue  waters  of  the  Pacific  stretch- 
ing out  to  infinity.  In  the  story,  & 
Alessandro  describes  the  harbor:  "It 
is  the  most  beautiful  water  I  have  ever 
seen,  Majella.  The  two  high  lands 
come  out  like  two  arms  to  hold  it  and 
keep  it  safe,  as  if  they  loved  it."  And 
the  light  house  on  the  PointI  How 
old   San   Diegans   miss  it  I     The  first 


star  ot  the  night  it  seemed  to  the  little 
children,  and  all  night  long  its  cheery 
light  shone  on  the  western  horizon 
until  sunrise. 

Mrs.  Jackson  has  used  the  harbor 
and  the  Point  and  the  light  house  most 
effectively  in  the  approach  of  Ramona 
and  Alessandro  to  San  Diego,  where 
they  came  to  be  married  by  the  priest 
"that  was  a  friend  to  the  Indians." 
For  her  description  of  the  marriage, 
Mrs.  Jackson  did  not  have  to  rely  on 
her  imagination.  The  story  of  the 
marriage  of  a  young  girl  belonging  to 
one  of  the  oldest  and  most  prominent 
Spanish  families  of  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, to  an  Indian,  was  known  and 
often  told,  long  before  the  author  of 
Ramona  came  to  San  Diego.  Father 
Ubach  declared  that  the  account  as 
given  by  Mrs.  Jackson,  was  accurate, 
and  added  that  she  had  told  it  much 
better  than  he  could.  The  marriage 
took  place  in  the  old  chapel  that  stands 
to-day  "in  a  neglected  weedy  open," 


The     Church     at    Old     Town 


just  as  it  is  described  in  "Ramona." 
One  change  has  come  since  Mrs. 
Jackson's  day  that  rejoices  the  heart 
of  every  friend  of  the  devoted  Father. 
For  nearly  forty-five  years  the  "just 
begun  walls  of  a  fine  brick  church" 
had  stood  on  the  principal  street  of  the 
old  town,  which  it  had  been  the 
dream  and  pride  of  his  heart  to  see 
builded  and  full  of  worshippers.  "To 
build  a  church  on  the  ground  where 
Father  Junipero  first  trod  and  labored, 
would  be  a  work  to  which  no  Catlv 
olic  could  be  indifferent;  but  there 
were  other  and  more  pressing  claims 
to  be  met  first.  This  was  right.  Yet 
the  sight  of  these  silent  walls  only  a 
few  feet  high  was  a  sore  one  to 
Father  Gaspara, — a  daily  cross  which 
he  did  not  find  grow  lighter  as  he 
paced  up  and  down  his  veranda,  year 
in  and  year  out,  in  the  balmy  winter  and 
cool  summer  of  that  magic  climate." 

The  corner  stone  had  been  laid  on 
the    16th  of  July,  1869,  on   the   one 


hundredth  anniversary  of  the  first  re- 
ligious services  held  in  San  Diego. 
Last  May  the  corner-stone  was  relaid 
in  the  presence  of  a  reverant  assem- 
bly, many  of  whom  had  attended  the 
solemn  service  forty-five  years  before; 
and  today  a  beautiful  new  church 
marks  the  spot  consecrated  by  the  de- 
voted service  of  two  of  the  most 
heroic  figures  in  American  Church 
history. 

In  1882,  there  were  many  Indians 
living  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  San 
Diego.  Within  the  city  limits  were 
several  Indian  camps,  or  rancher ias, 
which  Mrs.  Jackson  visited;  and  she 
frequently  attended  sessions  of  court 
where  Indian  offenders  were  tried. 
Mrs.  Mariette  M.  Gregory,  who  is  still 
living  in  San  Diego,  was  her  inter- 
preter on  these  occasions. 

Mrs.  Jackson  next  turned  her  atten-\ 
tion  to  the  outlying  valleys.     She  visit- 
ed   Mesa   Grande,    Pala,  Temecula, 
Pachanga,  and  San  Jacinto,  in  the  late 


fall  of  1881,  remaining  in  each  place 
several  days,  everywhere  gathering 
the  material  that  later  she  used  so 
effectively  in  her  great  romance. 

She  remained  longest  at  the  Wolf 
Hotel  and  store  in  Temechula,  where 
Mrs.  Wolf,— the  Mrs.  Jim  Hartsel 
of  Ramona, — told  her  the  story  of  the 
|  eviction  of  the  Temecula  Indians,  and 
of  her  own  sympathy  and  grief  for 
the  stricken  people.  The  little  grave- 
yard, a  few  rods  from  the  Wolf 
home,  touched  her  deeply.  To  this 
visit  Mrs.  Jackson  owed  more  than 
the  casual  reader  will  ever  realize.  It 
doubtless  gave  the  name  to  the  book, 
for  the  kindly,  sympathetic  Ramona 
Wolf,  in  her  simple  recital  of  the 
pathetic  incidents  connected  with  the 
removal  of  her  friends  and  neighbors 
from  their  homes,  stirred  Mrs.  Jackson 
more  than  any  other  account  of  Indian 
wrongs,  and  gave  her  the  material  for 
one  of  the  most  touching  chapters  in 
her  book  and  possibly  the  inspiration 
for  the  book  itself. 


Wolf's     (Hansel's) 
at     Temccula 


;Ip/  San  Jacinto,  she  heard  from 
'Mary1  Sheriff,  the  teacher  of  the  gov- 
ernment school  at  Saboba,  the  story 

t  of  the  killing  of  Juan  Diego,  the 
"locoed"  Indian  of  the  San  Jacinto 
mountains.    The  account  of  the  mur- 

.  der  as  given  in  Ramona,  is  substantial- 
ly correct,  and  the  trial  of  Sam  Temple 
(Jim  Farrar)  was  often  talked  of  in 
San  Jacinto.     Sentiment  as  to  the  guilt 

/  of  a  white  man  that  had  shot  an 
Indian  that  was  in  possession  of  a 
horse  not  his  own  was  divided.  But 
there  was  only  one  opinion  as  to  the 
brutal  character  of  Sam  Temple  and 
the  dislike  that  his  neighbors  felt  for 
him. 

She  visited  the  school  and  talked 
with  the  children,  many  of  whom 
long  recalled  her  gracious  presence. 
She  said  that  she  found  that  "these 
children  read  as  well  as  average  white 
children  of  their  age,  and  in  manners 
and  in  apparant  interest  in  their  studies 
were  far  above  the  average  children 


in  the  public  schools/'  At  her  re- 
quest, one  of  the  pupils,  jose  Castillo, 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  on  behalf  of  his  people,  that 
she  describes  as  "touching  in  its  simple 
dignity."  Mrs.  Jordan,  with  whom 
Mrs  Jackson  stopped  on  this  visit,  be- 
came the  Aunt  Ri  of  Ramona. 

Every  article  published  in  the  Cen- 
tury during  1881  and  1882  recalles 
some  trip  that  she  made  from  San 
Diego,  and  reveals  some  new  token  of 
her  industry  and  zeal.  At  length  the 
authorities  at  Washington  were  ar-  y 
roused,  and  in  July,  1882,  she  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  government  as  one  of 
two  commissioners, — Abbott  Kinney 
being  the  other, — to  report  upon  the 
condition  and  needs  of  the  Mission 
Indians  in  California.  This  report,  to  . 
which  Mrs.  Jackson's  name  is  signed,  ' 
is  dated  Cq?ojteido  Springs,  July  13th, 
1883,  and  is  a  thoroughly  business-like 
document  of  thirty  pages.  In  the  pre- 
paration  of    this   report   she   visited 


nearly  every  tribe  in  Southern  Cali- 
fornia, again  going  over  the  ground  of 
the  previous  year,  and  her  report  was 
commented  upon  as  being  "as  clear, 
practical  and  sensible  as  if  it  had  been 
written  by  the  most  prosaic  of  man- 
kind." This  document  has  been 
printed  as  an  appendix  to  all  later  edi- 
tions of  "The  Century  of  Dishonor," 
and  contains  a  report  of  fourteen 
tribes,  all  but  one  of  which  were  liv- 
ing within  the  limits  of  San  Diego 
County.  These  tribes  comprised  sev- 
eral thousand  individuals,  nearly  all  of 
whom  had  come  directly  or  indirectly 
under  the  influence  of  the  Church. 
Mrs.  Jackson   says   that   from   the 

(  time  that  she  began  to  be  interested  in 
Indians,  she  had  an  ambiton  "to  write 
a  story  that  should  'tell'  on  the  Indian 
question."  At  first  she  knew  that  she 
could  not  do  it;  she  had  no  back- 
ground, no  local  color.  But  during 
her  first  few  months  in  Southern  Cal- 

j  ifornia,  while  making  investigations  for 


her  articles  in  the  " Century/ 'and  later 
for  her  report  to  the  government,  she 
began  to  realize  that  she  had  this 
coloring.  Here  the  scene  should  be 
laid.  "The  old  Mexican  life  mixed  I 
with  just  enough  Indian  to  enable  me 
to  tell  what  happened  to  them."  I 
wonder  if  the  ordinary  reader  ever 
realizes  that  there  is  only  one  real 
Indian  character  in  the  entire  book, 
her  hero,  Alessandro.  But  she  has 
certainly  made  clear  "what  happen- 
ed" to  the  bands  of  Mission  Indians 
whose  history  and  sorrows  were  the 
one  theme  of  her  story. 

All  the  material  was  at  her  hand. 
She  had  the  stories,  she  had  the 
atmosphere;  and  Southern  California 
scenery  and  life  not  only  became  the 
natural  home  of  her  people,  but  had 
a  marked  influence  upon  the  lives 
that  she  portrayed.  In  "Ramona"  we 
appreciate  the  value  of  a  setting  of 
strong  contrasts,  brilliant  coloring  and 
a  free  out  door  life.     The  book  pre- 


sents  a  series  of  pictures  of  the  beau- 
ties of  a  land  that  the  author  knew 
and  loved;  the  thicket  of  wild  mustard 
through  which  Ramona  went  to  meet 
the  old  priest,  the  picture  that  she 
made  as  she  parted  the  delicate  branch- 
es, standing  with  her  face  "set  in  a 
swaying  frame  of  the  golden  blos- 
soms" appeal  strongly  to  one  that  has 
seen  this  plant  in  bloom  in  Southern 
California.  The  brilliant  sunrises,  the 
clear  hot  noondays  and  the  quickly 
falling  night  are  described  again  and 
again  with  ever  changing  word  pic- 
tures that  never  grow  wearisome. 
The  beauty  and  softness  of  the 
flowers  and  verdure  of  early  spring, 
the  yellow  of  ripened  grain  and  the 
dull  autumn  tints,  in  a  California 
landscape  before  the  rains  come, 
appealed  to  her  artistic  nature  and 
gave  a  setting  for  a  story  that  is  as 
remarkable  for  its  illuminating  and 
satisfying,  pictures  of  nature  as  for  its 
realistic  deliniation  of  character.     And 


the  lives  of  the  people  harmonize 
with  the  sharp  outlines  of  the  brown 
hills,  the  brilliant  sunshine  and  the 
clearly  marked  shadows  of  our  own 
San  Diego  County. 

For  a  few  weeks  after  the  govern' 
ment  report  had  been  sent  to  press, 
she  thought  earnestly  over  the  story 
that  she  was  to  write.  All  the  mate- 
rial  was  at  hand;  she  had  the  inci- 
dents; she  knew  her  country  well.  All  - 
that  was  wanting  was  a  plot.  In  a 
letter  written  during  the  latter  part  of 
February  1884,  to  a  friend,  she  says 
that  one  morning  in  the  preceding 
October,  while  at  her  home  in 
Colorado  Springs,  the  entire  plot,  just 
as  it  was  later  written  down,  flashed 
into  her  mind.  She  wrote  the  first 
word  December  1st.  1883,  and  from 
that  time  until  the  story  was  finished, 
she  wrote  with  the  greatest  rapidity, 
often  from  two  to  three  thousand 
words  a  day.  She  said  the  entire  story  i 
seemed  to  be  "at  her  finger  ends/' 


"Ramona"  was  first  printed  in  "The 
Christian  Union/'  appearing  in  book 
form  in  the  latter  part  of  1884.  Her 
friends  told  her  that  it  was  the  best 
thing  she  had  written,  but  she  herself 
was  at  times  doubtful.  In  one  of  her 
letters  she  says,  "I  can't  believe  it  is  as 
good  as  they  think.  I  am  uneasy  about 
it."  But  she  lived  long  enough  to 
know  that  she  had  not  only  written 
a  book  that  would  "tell"  for  the  help- 
less people  in  whose  defense  she 
wrote,  but  one  that  placed  her  among 
the  great  novelists  of  her  generation. 
She  herself  valued  "Ramona"  and  "A 
Century  of  Dishonor,"  above  all  her 
other  books.  Her  life  work  as  she 
viewed  it  at  the  end,  had  found  ex- 
pression in  what  she  had  done  and  in 
what  she  had  tried  to  do  in  behalf  of 
the  Indians. 

In  June  1884,  she  was  back  in 
Colorado,  busy  in  renovating  her 
home  and  looking  forward  to  a  de- 
lightful  summer  with  friends,  when, 


on  the  evening  of  June  28th.,  she  fell 
from  the  top  to  the  bottom  of  the 
stairs  and  broke  her  leg.  The  injury 
was  a  serious  one  and  the  inactivity 
wore  on  her.  Although  she  was 
busy  with  plans  for  a  new  story,  she 
felt  that  she  could  not  endure  another 
winter  in  New  York.  She  longed 
for  the  sunshine  and  outdoor  life  of 
the  South.  She  wrote  to  Mrs. 
Whipple  in  San  Diego,  "the  only 
place  in  all  California  where  there 
was  real  comfort;  and  I  like  the  San 
Diego  climate  best/'  But  Mrs. 
Whipple  had  moved  to  Los  Angeles. 
In  a  letter  a  little  later  she  writes; 
"why  cannot  the  people  that  I  want 
to  be  with  and  the  place  to  which  I 
want  to  go  be  together?"  The  refusal 
of  the  Railway  Company  to  repair 
for  the  second  time  the  road  through 
Temecula  Canon,  washed  out  during 
the  rainy  winter  of  1883  and  1884, 
distressed  her  greatly.  She  writes; 
"What  will  become  of  San  Diego? 
Poor  little  San  Diego!" 


She  was  brought  to  Los  Angeles 
in  November.  Very  soon  after  her 
arrival  symptoms  of  the  disease  that 
was  to  end  her  life  began  to  appear 
and  in  March  she  went  on  her  'last 
shred  of  nerve  force"  to  San  Francisco 
for  better  medical  advice.  Through 
the  last  months  of  suffering  she  longed 
for  San  Diego  and  for  her  friends  in 
the  South.  She  wrote,  "It's  all  right, 
only  if  1  had  been  asked  to  choose  the 
one  city  of  all  I  know  in  which  I 
would  have  most  disliked  to  be  slain, 
it  would  have  been  San  Francisco/' 

Five  days  before  her  death,  she 
wrote  her  last  poem  ending  with  the 
following  stanza: 

'"Ah,  well,  friend  Death,  good  friend 

thou  art, 
I  shall  be  free  when  thou  art  through, 
Take  all  there  is— take  hand  and  heart, 
There  must  be  somewhere  work 
to  do/' 


And  in  a  prayer  which  bears  the  date 
August  8th,  18^5,  she  writes: 

"In  outskirts  of  thy  kingdom  vast, 
Father,  the  humblest  spot  give  me; 
Set  me  the  lowliest  task  thou  hast, 
Let  me,  repentant,  work  for  thee." 

And  thus  passed,  on  August  12th,  1885,  i 
the   woman  that  wrote  "Ramona," 
the  Idyl  of  Southern  California. 


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